diff --git a/client/src/components/layouts/default.tsx b/client/src/components/layouts/default.tsx
index a135a4f5bb9..b9da69a81fc 100644
--- a/client/src/components/layouts/default.tsx
+++ b/client/src/components/layouts/default.tsx
@@ -181,7 +181,7 @@ function DefaultLayout({
 
   const isJapanese = clientLocale === 'japanese';
 
-  if (fetchState.pending) {
+  if (!fetchState.complete) {
     return <Loader fullScreen={true} messageDelay={5000} />;
   } else {
     return (
diff --git a/client/src/redux/action-types.js b/client/src/redux/action-types.js
index 0eb33759224..d242e461e26 100644
--- a/client/src/redux/action-types.js
+++ b/client/src/redux/action-types.js
@@ -46,7 +46,8 @@ export const actionTypes = createTypes(
     ...createAsyncTypes('showCert'),
     ...createAsyncTypes('reportUser'),
     ...createAsyncTypes('deleteUserToken'),
-    ...createAsyncTypes('saveChallenge')
+    ...createAsyncTypes('saveChallenge'),
+    'fetchUserTimeout'
   ],
   ns
 );
diff --git a/client/src/redux/actions.ts b/client/src/redux/actions.ts
index ebc23b054e9..a6d2ed2f9ef 100644
--- a/client/src/redux/actions.ts
+++ b/client/src/redux/actions.ts
@@ -50,6 +50,7 @@ export const acceptTermsError = createAction(actionTypes.acceptTermsError);
 
 export const fetchUser = createAction(actionTypes.fetchUser);
 export const fetchUserComplete = createAction(actionTypes.fetchUserComplete);
+export const fetchUserTimeout = createAction(actionTypes.fetchUserTimeout);
 export const fetchUserError = createAction(actionTypes.fetchUserError);
 
 export const toggleTheme = createAction(actionTypes.toggleTheme);
diff --git a/client/src/redux/fetch-user-saga.js b/client/src/redux/fetch-user-saga.js
index 6a2d8835be6..d093dda4d66 100644
--- a/client/src/redux/fetch-user-saga.js
+++ b/client/src/redux/fetch-user-saga.js
@@ -1,20 +1,41 @@
-import { call, put, takeEvery } from 'redux-saga/effects';
+import { call, cancel, delay, fork, put, takeEvery } from 'redux-saga/effects';
 import { getSessionUser, getUserProfile } from '../utils/ajax';
 import {
   fetchProfileForUserComplete,
   fetchProfileForUserError,
   fetchUserComplete,
-  fetchUserError
+  fetchUserError,
+  fetchUserTimeout
 } from './actions';
 
 function* fetchSessionUser() {
-  try {
-    const { data: user } = yield call(getSessionUser);
+  const timeoutTask = yield fork(function* () {
+    // The server should not take anywhere near 2 seconds to respond. If it
+    // does, we assume the request has failed and dispatch a timeout action to
+    // dismiss the loading state.
+    yield delay(2000);
+    yield put(fetchUserTimeout());
+  });
 
+  try {
+    // This is on a longer timeout to make sure that users with slow connections
+    // do, eventually, get signed in.
+    const res = yield call(getSessionUser, AbortSignal.timeout(10000));
+
+    const isSignedOut = res.response.status === 401;
+    if (!res.response.ok && !isSignedOut) {
+      throw new Error(
+        `HTTP Error: ${res.response.status} ${res.response.statusText}`
+      );
+    }
+
+    const { data: user } = res;
     yield put(fetchUserComplete({ user }));
   } catch (e) {
     console.log('failed to fetch user', e);
     yield put(fetchUserError(e));
+  } finally {
+    yield cancel(timeoutTask);
   }
 }
 
diff --git a/client/src/redux/index.js b/client/src/redux/index.js
index fc8b939f6d8..2335cd15dfe 100644
--- a/client/src/redux/index.js
+++ b/client/src/redux/index.js
@@ -218,11 +218,22 @@ export const reducer = handleActions(
         error: null
       }
     }),
+    [actionTypes.fetchUserTimeout]: state => ({
+      ...state,
+      userFetchState: {
+        // Pending because the fetch may still complete. This allows the UI to
+        // render what it can while waiting for the fetch to complete.
+        pending: true,
+        complete: true,
+        errored: false,
+        error: null
+      }
+    }),
     [actionTypes.fetchUserError]: (state, { payload }) => ({
       ...state,
       userFetchState: {
         pending: false,
-        complete: false,
+        complete: true,
         errored: true,
         error: payload
       }
diff --git a/client/src/utils/ajax.ts b/client/src/utils/ajax.ts
index 06023558227..bb045e62059 100644
--- a/client/src/utils/ajax.ts
+++ b/client/src/utils/ajax.ts
@@ -37,10 +37,14 @@ export interface ResponseWithData<T> {
 
 // TODO: Might want to handle flash messages as close to the request as possible
 // to make use of the Response object (message, status, etc)
-async function get<T>(path: string): Promise<ResponseWithData<T>> {
+async function get<T>(
+  path: string,
+  signal?: AbortSignal
+): Promise<ResponseWithData<T>> {
   const response = await fetch(`${base}${path}`, {
     ...defaultOptions,
-    headers: { 'CSRF-Token': getCSRFToken() }
+    headers: { 'CSRF-Token': getCSRFToken() },
+    signal
   });
 
   return combineDataWithResponse(response);
@@ -144,9 +148,12 @@ function mapKeyToFileKey<K>(
   return files.map(({ key, ...rest }) => ({ ...rest, fileKey: key }));
 }
 
-export function getSessionUser(): Promise<ResponseWithData<User | null>> {
+export function getSessionUser(
+  signal?: AbortSignal
+): Promise<ResponseWithData<User | null>> {
   const responseWithData: Promise<ResponseWithData<ApiUserResponse>> = get(
-    '/user/get-session-user'
+    '/user/get-session-user',
+    signal
   );
   // TODO: Once DB is migrated, no longer need to parse `files` -> `challengeFiles` etc.
   return responseWithData.then(({ response, data }) => {